General FAQ list

General FAQ list

• Microsoft Windows Home Server (original) with Power Pack two or later or ...
• Microsoft Server 2012 Essentials or ...
• Microsoft Windows Home Server 2011 or ...
• Microsoft Small Business Server 2011 Essentials or ...
• Microsoft Storage Server 2011

Q: Where can I find a user's manual or online help pages?

See our How To pages for details on installing, configuring, and maintaining Snoop-de-dupe

Q: If I purchase a license for Snoop-de-dupe now then will I have to pay for new product updates?

No. All updates to Snoop-de-dupe are free for license holders. You can check for new updates from the Snoop-de-dupe add-in by selecting More Settings | Check for Updates

Q: Does Snoop-de-dupe alter the modification dates or contents of my files?

No. Snoope-de-dupe does not alter your files modification date, data contents, or external data streams in any way. All duplication information is stored in a database separate from your files

Q: I'm using Snoop-de-dupe's Batch Mode to view my duplicate files. I elected to view duplicate files only in a specific folder via the "view duplicate files within a specific folder" option but I'm seeing duplicate files from other folders displayed in the list. Why is that?

When selecting either "view duplicate files within a specific folder" or "view duplicate files by file name," all duplicate files within the specified folder (or matching the specified file name) will be located and displayed. In addition, all files which are duplicates of those specified files will be located and displayed as well. For example, if you elect to view duplicate files within the folder "D:\Shares\Music\Sarah\iTunes" and the two files "D:\Shares\Music\Eric\iTunes\Beck\Odelay\Where It's At.m4p" and D:\Shares\Music\Eric\iTunes\Sarah\Odelay\Where It's At.m4p" are duplicates then both files will be displayed since one of the duplicate files is located within the folder you selected

Q: How can I see a grouping of all files which are duplicates of a specific file?

You can use two methods to see all related duplicate files. First, you can click on a file in the main duplicate file list, right-click, and select Resolve. This will display a list of all related duplicate files. Second, you can click on the Batch Resolve button. You will see a list of every single duplicate file that has been found by Snoop-de-dupe. You can then click on the "Dupe ID" column to sort by the duplicate identifier. All duplicates (which will always have an identical Dupe ID) will be grouped together with their related duplicate files

Q: Snoop-de-dupe found thousands of duplicate files on my system. I opened the Batch Resolve dialog and it's loading the entire duplicate file list into the view window. Is there a way I can stop loading the very large duplicate list?

The entire list of duplicate files will be loaded when the Batch Resolve dialog is opened. Loading of the list is a background task and will not affect performance. If you prefer to stop the loading process then press the Escape key; after which, no additional duplicate files will be loaded into the view and you can process the duplicate files already in the view. If you wish to continue to load the remaining duplicate files then simply exit the Batch Resolve dialog and re-open it. Alternately, you can elect to limit the contents of the duplicate file list by selecting either "view duplicate files within a specific folder" or "view duplicate files by file name"

Q: If I select "Ignore All" to ignore the current list of duplicate files then how long will the duplicate files be ignored (i.e. will they ever be displayed in the duplicate file list again)?

Ignored files will remain ignored (i.e. they will not be displayed in the list of duplicate files) as long as Snoop-de-dupe remains active. If you pause Snoop-de-dupe then, on resume, your selected folders will be scanned again and previously ignored duplicates will be listed again.

Q: I pressed the "Ignore All" button from the snoop-de-dupe add-in tab. All of the duplicate files were removed from the duplicate file list-view, as expected, but then 20 new duplicate files were immediately added back into the duplicate file list-view. Why did this happen?

Snoop-de-dupe will display a maximum of 20 duplicate files in the master duplicate file list-view. When you press the "Ignore All" button, the duplicate files currently visible in the list will be ignored and removed from the list. If additional duplicate files exist then the list-view will be re-populated with the next set of 20 duplicate files. If you wish to view all of the current duplicate files at one time then you can press the "Batch Resolve" button.

Q: Will Snoop-de-dupe "bog down" my server while it runs?

No. Snoop-de-dupe is very fast and efficient. It runs in the background on your server and is careful to yield to other services and applications. Typically, Snoop-de-dupe will not use more than 5% of your servers CPU usage during its most active times. You can easily pause Snoop-de-dupe from the Console during periods of high server use. You also have the option to limit maximum CPU usage and set process priority within the add-in (see More Settings | Set Resource Usage)

Snoop-de-dupe runs in real-time, automatically watching new and changed files on your server. The server operating system tells Snoop-de-dupe when a file is added or changed so this process is very efficient and duplicate files can be found almost instantaneously. When you first install Snoop-de-dupe it must catalog your existing files which can take some time to complete.

Q: I'm trying to purchase Snoop-de-dupe from your eStore and noticed there is an extra $4.99 (USD) charge for "eDP?" What is this and is it mandatory?

The "eDP" service is an extended download protection brought to you by Digital River, our eStore provider. With eDP, you will be able to re-download exact copies of the software you purchased, for a period of 1 (one) year after the date of purchase. This is not a required purchase and you are free to remove it from your cart before purchase. Doing so will not affect any features of the software.

Q: How do I upgrade from the trial version to the full version?

Upgrading is a simple process. All of your existing settings will remain available. Select the Purchase A Software License Now link directly from the add-in or select Buy Now from the web-site. After your purchase is complete, click the Activate Your Software License link and enter your email address and order ID exactly as they appear in your order confirmation email.

Q: What are the restrictions of the free trial?

The free trial of Snoop-de-dupe is full featured. The trial will remain active for 15 days after which you must purchase a license if you wish to continue using the software.

Q: What is your refund policy?

A full featured trial version of Snoop-de-dupe is available free of charge for your evaluation prior to purchasing the software. If you have any issues with the software please contact us at the email address below and we'll work with you to make it right

Q: Will the duplicate search extend to different shares, or does it search only for duplicates within the same share?

Snoop-de-dupe will look in ALL shares/folders that you select. The search is not limited to a single share. So, for example, if you have a duplicate photo located in both a user's folder and a photos folder (and you've selected both folders to be watched by Snoop-de-dupe) then the photo will be found as a duplicate file.

Q: Will files with identical contents but different file names be found as a duplicate?